Make Instagram Work For You!
Boost your online presence!
In today's digital age, having a strong online presence has become crucial for individuals and businesses and brands.. Whether you're a fitness or health coach, an aspiring influencer, a small business owner, or simply someone who wants to connect with others -a robust online presence can open doors to countless opportunities. In this blog post, we will explore the reasons why enhancing your online presence is essential and some action steps that you can implement right away.
When you invest in your online presence your will:
1. Reach a Wider Audience:
One of the primary reasons to boost your online presence is the ability to reach a larger audience. Social media platforms like Instagram provide a global stage where you can showcase your talents, products, or ideas to thousand and even millions of potential followers or customers. And in order to read a wider audience, you need to consistently engage with your audience through compelling content.
When I was a health coach and fitness trainer, I felt limited in how many people I could schedule in a day. I was working long days and I was making good money, but I had very little time off. And Los Angeles is an expensive place to live, I was not able to save money. I really enjoyed working with my clients, but it did not feel sustainable at the time. I did not have a digital product, like online coaching on-demand videos, or a fitness or nutrition app. I was not using my Instagram to reach a larger audience, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have!
What do you currently offer to your audience? Or if you don't have digital products yet, what would you like to create?
Action Step: 🛠️Create a content plan.You need to post consistently. I know that you know that, but let me tell you that it's more important to be consistent than frequent.Think about a starting point and a goal to work towards. Just to give you an example: you don't go from not working out to being active seven days a week, right? So start with an attainable goal that you can stick to, and when that becomes a habit and feels easy, you add more. If you can only commit to posting two times a week, then do that.
If at some point that becomes easy, commit to three to four posts. And if you can, I would recommend creating those posts once a week, batch content creation, so you have them ready to go. Just schedule in some time to get in content creation mode, get the juices flowing and get it done.✅
2. Build credibility and trust. When people come across your profile, they form perceptions based on your content engagement and overall brand image. You establish yourself as a credible and trustworthy figure by consistently sharing high quality content, demonstrating your expertise, and interacting with your audience in a genuine and authentic manner.This can lead to valuable collaborations, partnerships, and opportunities that can further enhance your online presence.
When I published my cookbook Models Do eat in 2019, I received some IG DM’s from companies that asked for collabs. It was exciting to see that my online presence, talking about the book and sharing about the content of the book helped me get interest from a new audience and brands. Now you don't need to publish a cookbook to get that attention, but that at the time that was my offer. That was something I was excited and passionate about.
Action Step: 🛠️ Share what you're excited and passionate about. Don't hold back on giving away some things that may be part of your service or digital offer. Give your audience really valuable content and make them feel that you are giving things away for free that they would have paid for. It makes them feel you're not just in it for the money. You truly care. We don't just buy from people that have great products and offers. We also buy because we feel connected and like the person that has created it.
The more you can be invested in creating an emotional connection and sharing about your values, your passion and some personal things that make people feel connected to you, the better you will be at selling.
3. Expand networking opportunities.
In the digital world, networking has taken on a whole new meaning. With just a few clicks, you can connect with like-minded individuals, industries, professionals, potential clients, or collaborations from around the world. By actively participating in relevant communities, joining industries, specific groups, and engaging in conversation, you can expand your network exponentially. Those connections can lead to mentorship opportunities, collaborations, job offers. And valuable insights that contribute to your personal and professional growth.
Action Step: 🛠️ Use Instagram to expand your network. Participate in relevant communities and engage in conversation with like-minded individuals, potential clients and companies/brands. Don’t wait for inbound messages, take the first step by sending a DM (or email).
Instagram is what you make of it!
I have made really good friends on Instagram. I have made extra money on Instagram. I have gotten jobs out of Instagram.
Let me share this unexpected brand collab story with you: A Japanese tea company reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try their tea and if I liked it they were going to pay me for a review post. I said “absolutely I love tea, I actually have never been a fan of coffee. I drink tea all day, every day. Send it over!”
So I get the tea, I make the tea, sip the tea and spit the tea out!!! This is disgusting. Ugh. What the heck? How could they ruin a tea? My goodness. I was so disappointed and I was just amazed that I did not like the tea. What's wrong with this tea? Now, there were a couple of things wrong with the tea (in my opinion).
First of all it had stevia in it! I don't like stevia, I know a whole lot of people do, but I prefer to choose my own sweetener or not sweeten it at all. Second, there was seaweed in it. The Japanese tea company had the best intentions to make seaweed and the health benefits more available to the US but it had a really awful aftertaste. And the third thing was there was a flowery essence that I didn't like when the tea was hot, I could only drink it and enjoy it when it was cold. So anyhow, I emailed the company and I said, “Hey, I am so sorry I am not going to be able to do this collaboration. I don't like the tea, but I do know how to fix this tea. Here's a recipe!”. They really appreciated me taking the time to actually revise their recipe and they emailed me back and said, Hey we really appreciate your input, how can we continue working with you?
I was really surprised by their response and then it made me think, okay, cool. If you want me to work with you, let me develop your flavors. And so I did! I was excited. I was really honored and a little nervous, of course, but this opportunity let me to work with that company for 14 months. Not only did they need me for their flavor development, but they also needed someone to take the lead in the US. I helped them with their website, social media content. I even created a commercial for them. I did things that I had not done before, but I did it with so much passion and every time I didn't know how to do something, I would figure it out. So it was not just a great paid gig. It was a great learning opportunity and it gave me a lot of confidence to reach out to other brands and companies.
I hope this story inspires you to rediscover the magic of Instagram, to not think of it as a must-do or a burden.Think of it as a magical place where really amazing collaborations, connections, meetings, friendships can happen.
I love hearing from you! DM me @_ModelsDoEat with any questions and tell me what action step speaks most to you!
